HAPPY HORROR STORIES

stanley03_014_jlt.JPG Event on 9/24/04 in Pacifica. John Stanley is a former TV writer for the Chronicle who has at various times been an author, a movie director, a creator of crossword puzzles, a lecturer, and the host of KTVU's "Creature Features" horror movie show. Chronicle photo by Jerry Telfer / The Chronicle MANDATORY CREDIT FOR PHOTOG AND SF CHRONICLE/ -MAGS OUT Datebook#Datebook#SundayDateBook#10-03-2004#ALL#Advance##0422372088 less

stanley03_014_jlt.JPG Event on 9/24/04 in Pacifica. John Stanley is a former TV writer for the Chronicle who has at various times been an author, a movie director, a creator of crossword puzzles, a lecturer, ... more

Photo: Jerry Telfer

Photo: Jerry Telfer

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stanley03_014_jlt.JPG Event on 9/24/04 in Pacifica. John Stanley is a former TV writer for the Chronicle who has at various times been an author, a movie director, a creator of crossword puzzles, a lecturer, and the host of KTVU's "Creature Features" horror movie show. Chronicle photo by Jerry Telfer / The Chronicle MANDATORY CREDIT FOR PHOTOG AND SF CHRONICLE/ -MAGS OUT Datebook#Datebook#SundayDateBook#10-03-2004#ALL#Advance##0422372088 less

stanley03_014_jlt.JPG Event on 9/24/04 in Pacifica. John Stanley is a former TV writer for the Chronicle who has at various times been an author, a movie director, a creator of crossword puzzles, a lecturer, ... more

Photo: Jerry Telfer

HAPPY HORROR STORIES

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Like a vampire at sunrise, KTVU's "Creature Features" is long gone. But John Stanley lives on, revered by horror lovers as a member of an elite fraternity that includes the likes of Ghoulardi, Svengooli and Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. They are the horror movie TV hosts, and beginning in the mid-'50s, they spread throughout the land, delighting young viewers (and more adults than would care to admit it) with their wacky personalities and programs of bad, bad movies.

Unlike hosts in, oh, less urbane markets, Stanley and his storied KTVU predecessor, Bob Wilkins, refused to rely on monster costumes and silly names to entice viewers. They played themselves, and scored anyway: "Creature Features" had a 14-year run, remarkable for a local show.

Stanley hosted the program for six years, beginning in 1979, building on the success of Wilkins, who started the show in '71 and whose dry humor and outsize cigars made him a weekly fix for lots of Bay Area kids. The two are still popular draws at horror and fantasy gatherings, including the WonderCon in San Francisco and the Horror Host Palooza that begins Thursday at Oakland's Parkway Theater.

It all started in the '50s, when Hollywood studios began cleaning out their vaults and selling packages of movies that often included horror films of less-than-sublime quality to television stations desperate to fill air time. A modest investment on a downscale set and a spooky host were the extra hook for these movies that didn't cost much to acquire.

The first horror host emerged in 1954 at KABC in Los Angeles, where an actress named Maila Nurmi introduced movies in the guise of Vampira, a creepy character she based on a Charles Addams drawing. While Vampira didn't last long, other stations caught on to the formula and variations appeared across the country: In New York, the character was Zacherley; in New Orleans, Morgus; in Tampa, Dr. Paul Bearer.

By the '80s. the movies were no longer as cheap, and many had a darker, bloodier tone. Slasher pictures like "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" offended some station managers and viewers. KTVU's "Creature Features" gave up the ghost in '84, though similar shows continue in some markets.

In his post-"Creature Features" life, Stanley, who is genial, soft-spoken and generous with his memories, has been as indestructible as Freddy Krueger. He created 1,000 crossword puzzles (and sold many to TV Guide), wrote a dozen books (including three novels) and sold two stories to TV, including a "Star Trek" episode. He's currently teaching entertainment topics at Bay Area Elderhostels.

But in his public appearances now, his fans still want to hear about the show's golden days -- or should that be "ghoulden" days? Stanley started out with a legacy to live up to. Wilkins' memorable shtick was to be absolutely merciless about the miserable quality of many "Creature Features" offerings (e. g. "Fire Maidens From Outer Space"): He not only urged viewers, on air, to change the channel, but he also would produce a copy of TV Guide and suggest other shows. Stanley, by contrast, was a genuine horror and fantasy buff and delivered his own macabre brand of jocularity in the form of on-air skits, such as his parody of "The Bad Seed."

He carried on the Wilkins tradition of inviting guests from the horror and fantasy worlds -- Ray Bradbury, Christopher Lee (who almost walked out when he didn't like the show's set, Stanley says) and Ray Harryhausen. He learned the gentle art of conversing with celebrities at The Chronicle's Pink section, where he interviewed hundreds of movie and TV stars during a 33-year stint with the newspaper.

Stanley was born in Santa Maria and grew up in Oakland and Napa, assisting his father in his flooring business and schooling himself in sci-fi movies like "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and the famed E.C. horror comics of William Gaines. He reported for Napa-area newspapers and enrolled at San Francisco State. He joined The Chronicle staff in 1960.

After occasional "Creatures Features" guest-hosting stints, Stanley took over when Wilkins -- possibly figuring that eight years of movies like "Dr. Tarr's Pit of Horror" was plenty -- decided to move on. Stanley's interview subjects ranged from the sublime (Ricardo Montalban, "a very articulate man with wonderful material about being an actor") to the cantankerous (Leonard Nimoy, who threatened to cancel the interview after he unexpectedly found a small audience waiting for him in the "Creature Features" studio).

For "Creature Features" diehards, there's a DVD of memorable Stanley bits, assembled by a fan, that includes the "Bad Seed" skit, lots of vintage horror trailers and a few of his interviews, including those with Ray Bradbury and with "Psycho II" director Richard Franklin, who reveals some intriguing trivia about the Hitchcock original.

Sitting through countless movies in the vein of, say, "The Devil's Mistress" (plot: female vampire preys on cowboys in the Wild West) might have destroyed a lesser being. But Stanley put his TV tenure to good use by writing "The Creature Features Movie Guide" (Warner Books), which went through six editions and eventually boasted cover blurbs from Leonard Maltin and Joe Bob Briggs. It's fiendish fun to leaf through his mini-reviews.

In the spirit of practicing what you preach, Stanley directed a horror film in the early '70s, a campy piece that reflects its time but, as Stanley himself allows, was and is DOA in the quality department.

He's forthright about his cinematic baby: " 'Nightmare in Blood' should have fallen into an abyss," he says. "It has moments, but it's a disaster." The film, which features a fictional horror host and was shot partly on the actual "Creature Features" set, lasted four years on the drive-in and grindhouse circuits, Stanley says. In February, the picture clawed its way onto the DVD shelf. (There are some good stories about making the film at Stanley's Web site, www.netwiz.net/~creature.)

The heyday of horror hosts may be over, but come Halloween spare a thought, or a shiver, for the diabolical crew that turned many a Saturday night into a sweet nightmare. A tip of the undertaker's hat to Stanley, Wilkins, Ned the Dead, Count Zappula, the Nightshadow ...

A GUIDE TO THE GHOULISH

Consider this entry, from the fourth edition of John Stanley's film guide, for the 1957 Italian obscurity "I Vampiri": "Gianna-Maria Canale, onetime queen of Italian B movies, pulls a Countess Bathory routine by bathing her body in the blood of striptease beauties while carrying on before the public as a stately actress. Routine psychomurders are enhanced by Mario Bava's cinematography and nifty aging effects. For voyeurs and gore fans."

Yes, there are insider references here. Countess Bathory looms large in horror literature as the 17th century Hungarian noblewoman who reputedly bathed in the blood of virgins to maintain her youthful appearance. Bava became a renowned director in the 1960s and '70s of Italy's notorious quickie horror films and grisly thrillers.

But you don't need to be a horror specialist to get Stanley's point. Savor the brevity: The description of Canale tells you all you need to know in six modest words. Marvel at the backhanding of the film's killings with one dismissive adjective. Relish the coup de grace: "For voyeurs and gore fans." Short and sweet.